By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources
Regional estimateWater quality grade
Fair
Graded against Health Canada drinking water guidelines
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Canmore's drinking water earns Grade C (Fair). Hardness is 119 mg/L (moderate), and pH is 7.7 against Health Canada's 6.5–8.5 guideline.
Lead at 0.7 μg/L is below the 5 μg/L maximum, and fluoride is 0.5 mg/L against a guideline of ≤ 1.5 mg/L.
How to use this page: read the headline metric and provincial comparison first, then supply and treatment notes, then the source footer for the underlying dataset.
Watershed to tap
How Canmore draws, treats, and distributes drinking water, from municipal and utility publications. Chemistry grades above come from separate parameter records; this section does not invent plant lab figures.
Mixed surface and groundwater
Research confidence: high
Canmore Water Treatment Plant (Spray Lakes Road / former Pumphouse No. 2)
Filters Rundle Forebay water with chlorine, gravity filtration, and UV. New plant online spring 2026 replacing the 40-year-old pumphouse.
Pumphouse No. 1 (downtown wells)
Chlorination of north-of-highway well supply; underground reservoir storage.
Serves Canmore plus MD of Bighorn neighbours (Harvie Heights, Dead Man's Flats, Lac des Arcs). North of TransCanada Highway generally wells; south/central from Rundle Forebay.
Health parameters meet Health Canada limits; turbidity above the 1 NTU typical target.
One or more parameters exceed a Health Canada drinking water guideline or turbidity target.
Figure 1 · Supply chain
From watershed to tap
Alberta · 51 cities in sample
Provincial average: hardness 178 mg/L · pH 7.5 · lead 0.3 μg/L · fluoride 0.6 mg/L
| Parameter | Reading | Health Canada guideline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 119 mg/L | No health limit (aesthetic) | Compliant |
| pH | 7.7 | 6.5–8.5 | Compliant |
| Lead | 0.7 μg/L | ≤ 5 μg/L | Compliant |
| Fluoride | 0.5 mg/L | ≤ 1.5 mg/L | Compliant |
| Chlorine (free) | 1.2 mg/L | ≤ 4 mg/L | Compliant |
| Turbidity | 4 NTU | ≤ 1 NTU (typical target) | Exceeds guideline |
On a private well or holding an Alberta water allocation licence? Water Register maps EPA licence records, transfer comparables, and watershed context across the province.
Explore WaterRegister.ca →OpenStats pick
Canmore pairs 119 mg/L hardness with 1.2 mg/L chlorine — taste and scale show up together. Elite carbon for drinking, shower filter for chlorine, strips so you know when you need a softener.
As an Amazon Associate, OpenStats earns from qualifying purchases.
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